Cuomo meets with Trump to offer deal on travelers program

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2019 file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a bill signing ceremony in New York. Cuomo says his state will file a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's plan to block New Yorkers from enrolling in "trusted traveler" programs. Federal officials say they took the step because of a new New York law barring immigrant agents from getting access to state motor vehicle records.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited the White House on Thursday in the hope he could persuade President Donald Trump to reverse a decision to boot New Yorkers from programs that allow travelers to avoid long lines at the U.S. border.

The Democratic governor and Republican president met Thursday to discuss their dispute over New York's new “Green Light” law, which lets unauthorized immigrants obtain state driver's licenses and also bars federal immigration agents from accessing state motor vehicle records.

The Trump administration said that cutoff from state records threatened public safety, and responded by blocking New Yorkers from enrolling in Global Entry and other “trusted traveler” programs. New York then sued over its expulsion.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said the leaders held a “productive meeting." He called the relationship between the state of New York and the federal government an important one but said it “has been made difficult by the unilateral actions of New York State regarding the sharing of critical security information with DHS." He said in a tweet that discussions would continue to find a mutually agreeable solution.

Cuomo's communications director Dani Lever said Trump said he wants to work on the issue and will follow up with Cuomo next week.

In a tweet before the meeting, Trump said Cuomo “must understand that National Security far exceeds politics."

Cuomo said he's willing to restore federal access to driving records on a limited basis.

But in a midday news conference, he pledged not to let federal immigration agents see lists of people who had applied for a new type of license that doesn't require applicants to prove they are in the U.S. legally.

“If they think they're going to extort New York into giving them a database of undocumented people, they're wrong. I will never do that," Cuomo said.

Cuomo in television appearances said he would only propose giving federal officials access to the state driving records of applicants to traveler programs, who already must submit to an in-person interview and a background check.

“There is no undocumented person who's going for an in-person interview before the federal government,” Cuomo said on the MSNBC show “Morning Joe.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary officials say New York's decision to cut off federal access to driving records was part of a pattern of the state hindering the work of immigration and border enforcement agents. They said the lack of access to driving records would make it harder to catch fugitives or to quickly confirm someone’s identity.

Trump and Cuomo have a long history that has turned decidedly nasty over the years. Last year, Trump lashed out on Twitter, accusing New York officials of harassing his New York businesses in search of “anything at all they can find to make me look as bad as possible.” He complained that his family was spending a fortune on lawyers. Four months later, Trump declared that Florida would become his permanent residence after he leaves the White House, not New York, saying he had been “treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state.”

Cuomo replied: “Good riddance” and “He’s all yours, Florida.”

The two have clashed on Trump’s income tax cuts, which imposed a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, hiking federal taxes for many homeowners in New York, and on New York’s ban on hydraulic fracturing. Trump says New York is missing out on a “goldmine” of energy revenue.

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Villeneuve reported from Albany, N.Y.

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